– MORE POSITIVE DRUG TEST RESULTS APPEAR LIKELY

by Tom Hamlin – MMAWeekly.com
Though the California State Athletic Commission has already released partial drug test results from Affliction’s debut mixed martial arts event on July 19 and EliteXC’s second edition of CBS-EliteXC Saturday Night Fights on July 26 with only one positive result, neither promotion can plan on clear sailing as the remaining results come in.

Of the first eight fighters returning drug test results from Affliction, only Justin Levens tested positive, that being for oxymorphone, a pain reliever related to morphine.

None of the results for the first eight fighters tested for EliteXC returned a positive result.

The initial test results for the remaining fighters on each show, however, indicate that there are more positive results forthcoming. CSAC Assistant Executive Officer Bill Douglas told MMAWeekly.com that, “Both cards are not out of the woods yet.”

He would not identify any of the individuals involved, nor would he indicate how many individuals were involved, but did indicate that initial testing of the remaining fighters’ “A” samples returned more positive results.

Each fighter has an “A” sample and a “B” sample for the drug testing procedure. The “A” sample is sent to Quest Diagnostics, Inc. and tested twice to confirm results. The “B” sample is sent to a World Anti-doping Agency approved lab in Montreal for the same sort of procedure in an effort to independently confirm or deny the initial results.

The lab in Montreal is not given the results of the “A” sample testing. “They don’t know what they’re looking for,” Douglas told MMAWeekly.com. “They know they’re supposed to test for anabolic agents and masking agents, but they don’t actually know what they’re looking for.

“That lends credibility to the test because (between the) two facilities… they know that something is there, but they don’t know (exactly) what they’re looking for.”

Douglas said that the earliest that confirmed results will be released is August 11.